A few months ago, I was among a large number of people who condemned the privatisation of the Royal Mail by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition.I did not support the sell-off in principle, but I was particularly angry that the shares were under-valued and that two-thirds of them were sold to “institutional investors,” including “sovereign wealth funds” in foreign countries, investment banks and hedge funds.

The vote of no confidence reflected the frustration of council members at the lack of regard that the cabinet had for their views and the arrogance with which those views were dismissed on a regular basis - from ignoring a vote of the full council to disregarding the work of advisory panels.